


Secret Santa

by meragu



Series: gifts [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Christmas fic, M/M, No Plot, Post-Canon, like university years post canon, this has like 37 inside references that probably make no sense without context i'm so sorry, warning: bad flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 23:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9041078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meragu/pseuds/meragu
Summary: It's holiday time at the Barian household and the yearly tradition of secret santa is well underway. Just some little drabbles in the Christmas spirit!





	

**Author's Note:**

> What? Barians are interdimensional creatures and wouldn't celebrate holidays? not if Rio Kamishiro has anything to say on it!
> 
> A little Christmas fic for Juli bc all I can really do is write oops~
> 
> Happy Holidays! Enjoy~

Pensive tension remains in the air, evident on each of the barian’s faces as Rio’s hands slip into the device before them all. She was the first to go, as had become customary since none of the others had any comeback to her flipping long blue hair over her shoulder and insisting _ladies first?_ With a cheery grin that crosses her entire face and wins anyone over before they can think twice.  
  
Secret Santa was a tradition Alit had never had previous experience with before they had been reincarnated, feeling positively lost as Rio barrelled into the room, hat full of scraps of paper dangling from her wrist in what was a normal breakfast at the Kamishiro mansion gone awry. She’d exclaimed that everyone was to buy a gift for the person they drew out, but it had to remain a secret no matter what until the gift was given on Christmas day; it had taken an effort from her but they had eventually all given in, coaxed by her excitement for the newly discovered holiday – at least to them – and well, Leader’s orders were orders and anyone with a heartbeat knew just how Rio had her brother wrapped around her finger.  
  
He’d had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when Ryouga had begrudgely handed over his present for him two weeks later – a stack of booster packs and a year gym membership – and once he’d been through it and swapped their presents the freezing December morning he’d finally came to understand just why Rio had been excited about the premise in the first place.  
  
[And he can’t deny that it’s certainly interesting to see who gets what, especially under the premise that no one can have the same person two years in a row, and how it suddenly became a competition to outclass each other year after year.]  
  
Over the years the practice had only become cemented within their traditions, gradually spreading to include Yuma, Kotori and Kaito - when he can be bothered to stay in Heartland for more than three days at a time. Ryouga complains as he always does whenever a new person is added into the mix, sighing but allowing it as he sets up the device for what seems to be the biggest year yet.  
  
Rio’s hand slips from the device, scrap paper hidden away between her fingers before anyone can catch the words sketched neatly into the parchment in her hands. Without a word she hands it to the next person in the circle, who delves their hand into the device and waits for their fate to be presented to them.  
  
Alit has a few before him - Mizael sits on one side, bored expression mirroring exhausted feelings as his eyes battle to remain open and interested in the conversation buzzing around him – so he has plenty of time to consider what he would get each of them should chance land their name in the palm of his hand. They all have their pros and cons though he cannot help but admit that some are infinitely easier to buy for than others; Ryouga and Vector were notoriously difficult to buy for, for any query regarding their interests in gifts was met with a shrug that was about as informative as asking a rock.  
  
[At least the rock wouldn’t complain if he tossed whatever gift he could come up with in the two weeks at it, unlike some.]  
  
For himself, he’s not entirely sure what he wants this year of all things; where he’s normally quick to have something in place for this time of year, this year no matter what he rattles his brain with he cannot find something that would help him. And it’s more the future that’s the reason, for his graduation from Heartland Academy meant that he was free to do whatever he wished no matter the consequence, good or bad.  
  
He’d talked to the other barians about it as soon as he’d had the idea of backpacking through Europe for the year – his interests in culinary works had only increased over the years, a natural if previously latent talent rising to the surface as the seven took turns to feed the rest as part of their chores – he’d been desperate to travel, emerald eyes widening in ecstasy every time Yuma had come back with a story of his own. While Alit had plenty of his own stories to tell when the torch had been flung in his direction during dark, humid nights around the campfire at the Kamishiro mansion, he always craved more; he wanted to be like Yuma, to always be on the go, feet hitting at the pavement and adrenaline coursing through his veins at new, unforgettable experiences.  
  
The others had found comfort in the day-to-day regularities of Heartland City, and most had taken to some form of university study or other work that kept them tied to the city for a little while longer as well as their comrades but he knew immediately he could never be the same; there was something outside of the bustling city that called to him, resonating within his bones and drawing him away from the traditions of it all. Europe was his starting point, negotiating a year with Ryouga to find what he was looking for before returning to the rest of them and figuring out his future.  
  
He departs at the turn of the New Year, leaving him with his problem; what on earth would he possibly need in that short period of time before then? His passport, identification and basic supplies were already sorted – he planned on going rough, only taking a backpack despite Mizael’s distaste at slumming it out and Ryouga’s insistence that they could foot the bill for comfort – and beside that, there wasn’t all that much left for him to do or need, so he finds himself yet again at a loss.  
  
The device finally finds its way into his hands, slipping into it and snatching at the closest scrap of paper before him. Handing it off to Yuma, his mind remains in another place as he brings the paper to his chest, remaining for his eyes only - for heaven forbid Rio would chastise him if he deliberately let his Secret Santa know he was the gift giver and demand a redraw – and flips it open.  
  
_Yuma Tsukumo._  
  
Thank god.  
  
\--  
  
He didn’t want to have to resort to pulling Rio from her room to take him down to the mall but with Ryouga busy distracting Yuma and Durbe jam packed dealing with whatever’s been bothering him the past few weeks, he’s left to asking the only other person he feels is competent enough to be trusted behind the wheel of the car bought to cart the seven around when they so desired. She’s claimed multiple times that she doesn’t mind in the least, especially so now her university work for the semester was done.  
  
She allows him into the room, open door evident as she waves him in, sharp instincts able to sense the male before he had even thought of knocking on the door to alert to his presence. “Hey Merag, are you busy?” he asks, flopping onto her bean bag as she remains transfixed with whatever’s present on her laptop screen.  
  
“Not really, what’s up?” she calls, finally tearing her eyes from the device to swivel and face him. “I’m just deciding what to get Durbe for Christmas. I have two options, but I can’t decide between them. How’s your hunt going?”  
  
Alit perks at the words, excited leaning alerting Rio to full attention. “I have Yuma.”  
  
“So, a dozen roses between your teeth on order then?”  
  
A mocking laugh greets her, rolling his eyes as he flops back against the felted seat. “Not this time. Though I’d hardly feel you of all people are in a position to mock me. Seems you also got the short end of the stick with gift giving this year.”  
  
“Not really.” Rio admits, swivelling back to the laptop only to cast a disdainful glance at the device before shutting it definitively, letting the picture fizzle and disappear before her. “My problem is more the amount of choice I have than anything else. Oh, and that Vector keeps trying to ~conveniently~ leave mistletoe above my door when he knows Durbe and I are in the same general vicinity. I’d feel insulted if I wasn’t the only person being targeted by it.”  
  
“At least Durbe tries to act embarrassed about it all.” Alit bargains with a cheeky grin that somehow never fails to heave a sigh from Rio’s lips. “You don’t even realise the chance you have, do you? You keep knocking back my advice, but I’ll have you know I do have a one hundred percent success rate on my cross counter strategy and that’s better than any silly strategy I’ve seen you try to implement.” He chastises, pulling himself to his feet only to lounge lazily against her desk.  
  
A glower greets him from the woman, whose crossed arms and raised eyebrow say more than any words could; he shrugs it off, for he’s right and it’s purely exasperating when he so clearly has the answers she seeks but simply cannot see it. And sure, it wasn’t as if it was inherently difficult to get Yuma to express his feelings for him – it was more difficult to actually find any alone time with the far sought after male than actually saying anything to him – so it’s entirely vexing when he has the answers so readily available only to have everyone brush it off and continue to mope.  
  
“Here’s what you do. You get whatever you’re planning to get. Then on Christmas day, you go up to him and say you couldn’t get anything because you couldn’t decide. It throws him off guard, weakening him so you can go in full impact. He’ll say something like ‘it’s okay Merag, just your presence is enough’ and when he does, it’s your time to strike. ‘oh, in that case Durbe, _how about I be your present instead?_ ” he calls, dramatic hand draping across his forehead only adding to the mocking, too-high-for-Rio’s-tone that Alit adopts whenever he tries to convince her to listen to him. “He’ll be so knocked off his feet that your last swing won’t need to be excessive to be effective. Then you just kiss him and bamn!” he finishes, fists punching playfully at the air as she watches on in complete disbelief. “He’s all yours.”  
  
“Charming.” Rio drawls. “When do you leave for Europe again?”  
  
Alit returns the favour with a glower, slumping back against the desk in complete defeat. “Whatever, you’ll miss me while I’m gone. You forget which of us actually has a partner. One hundred percent effective.” He pauses, quick attempt at returning to her good graces while he still needs to ask a favour from her. “Speaking of which, what’s the chances of you driving me to the mall? I need to pick up my present for Yuma before the rushes arrive and make going anywhere useless.”  
  
Manicured nails tap impatiently at the wooden desk, thinking the question over only to brush a hand over her eyes and pull her head back into focus. “If you stop trying to play matchmaker for me, sure. Where do you need to go?”  
  
\--  
  
While tradition requires them to all place their gifts under the tree to present to each other Christmas morning, he can only deal with the waiting for so long; it burns within him, adrenaline coursing through him as anticipation envelops him at the thought of seeing his sort-of partner, sort-of rival. He’s over bright and early, demanding a Christmas themed duel with as many people as he can muster before his sister drags him off for their own family Christmas dinner.  
  
Excitement spills from the male on all accounts, radiating enough chaos energy to pull the rest of them from their slumbers and into vaguely functional humans without any effort at all. Alit cannot escape it no matter how he tries, for he’s quickly became the first to consistently lose out on sleep in favour of the overwhelming presence of his greatest rival. And today is no different, and he’s come to expect as much. Yuma’s present never made it to the bottom of the extravagant tree encompassing almost the entirety of the lounge room - another tradition that Alit didn’t totally think he’d enjoy until he was in the midst of it, tossing knots of tinsel around Mizael’s legs when he’s not paying attention and flaunting tinsel crowns that have even Ryouga admitting a small appreciative comment.  
  
A photo from that day remains hidden away with the rest of his gear to take away, nostalgic memories clinging to his soul already before he’d even stepped foot out of the country. For there was a reason the seven of them stuck close together, the bond binding the seven emperors ran deeper, far deeper than any old human relationship and while there’s nothing Alit wants more than to find the source of the aching in his chest, he’ll ache for the closeness and security that only the seven emperors and Yuma can give.  
  
“Well, well, Christmas has come early for me, hasn’t it?”  
  
The words bring Alit to attention, free hand rubbing sleep from his eyes as the room blinks into focus, revealing the offender in all of his glory. He doesn’t need to read the clock to know it’s some absolutely ridiculous time in the morning – Yuma’s obnoxious habit of sleeping in only ever applied to school days and the eagerness of presents and overall Christmas cheer was almost always too much for him to sleep – and Yuma’s wide awake, elf hat miraculously managing an almost impossible balance between his spikes as his grins and takes a look over the male still slouched in his bed.  
  
“I see through your antics. Would hope to have by now at least.” Alit murmurs, sleepy, half laden eyes still managing a smirk as his partner flops onto the bed beside him. “Unfortunately for you, it’s cold as hell outside so you’ll still have to undress me.”  
  
“Implying I would have a problem with that?”  
  
A cheeky smile greets him, elf hat flopping uselessly to the mattress as Yuma’s body crashes across Alit’s stomach and blasts every spec of oxygen from the male’s body; a cough bursts from him, rattling the entire mattress with a mix of deep, humorous laughter that washes away all sense of annoyance that rumbled within him.  
  
He can’t stay mad at him, physically cannot bring himself to feel anything other than an overwhelming content – for it’s only a few more weeks that he can share this intimacy with Yuma before jetting off around the world, and with Yuma himself all over the place the past few weeks, it feels almost melancholic, trapped in a constant state of running out of time.  
  
He interrupts Yuma’s babbling with a kiss, worn fingers lacing through a tangled mess of spikes that is Yuma’s mess of unbrushed hair as he pulls himself completely into the moment. He rids himself of doubt, of the future and Europe and everything that isn’t the gentle caress of Yuma’s lips against his own; for it’s Yuma’s encouragement that he’s even going in the first place, his unwavering support and excitement for his adventure that he had not even a single hesitation before dragging Alit by his hand to the local DMV to apply for his passport.  
  
“Sorry, what were you saying? I got distracted by those beautiful lips of yours.” Alit quips, thumbing at Yuma’s bottom lip as the man pouts, desperate attempt at refusing to smile hiding his true feelings falling through before he can even begin.  
  
“I thought we were past you hitting on me every chance you get.”  
  
“I’ll never be past hitting on you every chance I get.”  
  
Yuma pouts, bottom lip poking outwards that rumbles at Alit, desperate to kiss the male again while he has complete alone time with him; instead his hands laces through his, pulling Yuma from his annoyance before he can ruin his day.  
  
“I was asking who your Secret Santa was, I noticed you haven’t put your present down with the rest of the others.” Yuma eventually repeats, grumpy pout melting from his lips as ruby eyes squint at the loopy writing from the other side of the room.  
  
“Oh. It’s you.” Alit confirms, hand smacking immediately at his partner’s as Yuma instinctively pulls himself to his feet to open it. “Don’t; if you open it before everyone else, Merag will actually have my head and I’m quite enjoying life at the moment.”  
  
“Boo. Shark’s sis is so strict about it, I didn’t even get to duel her to get out of the rules applying to me.” Yuma laments, flopping back against the mattress and collecting his hat from its discarding between the sheets. “I want to get in as many duels as I can before we start opening presents, but I came to give you my gift.”  
  
“Was I your Secret Santa as well?”  
  
Guilt crosses Yuma’s face, hand scratching at his neck in pure embarrassment at the admission. “No, Kaito was. I was going to get you something anyway because you’re my partner and Kotori insisted it was tradition to get your partner something else as well, but I uh, may have forgot.” He pauses, embarrassment only furthering as Alit’s head shakes, completely unsurprised at the notion of his easily distracted rival.  
  
“Did you at least get Kaito a present?”  
  
“ _Of course_ , do you know how hard it was to convince him to join this in the first place?” Yuma defends, returning to his pout. “But I ordered his online so I wasn’t even in the mall at any point this season, hence why I forgot. Instead,” he pauses, knowing finger tapping at his nose to remind himself. “My gift is my news. You’re heading around Europe for a year. Guess whose dad invited him last night for a month long excavation of some ruins just outside of Rome in March?”  
  
“That’s awesome!”  
  
“I thought you would be more excited, don’t you see what this means?” Yuma insists, budding frustration evident in his eyes as a far too fast brain waits for Alit to catch up. “I’ll have days off, it’s just work experience and more because dad wants to train me up before I have to get tied down with university. It’s annoying, I’d rather be out experiencing the world than sitting in a classroom _again_ , but you know what they’re like, they won’t accept anyone anywhere near archaeology without a degree these days. I wish I could delay my degree for the whole year, but mom and sis bargained me down to six months with this trip. But it means that I’ll be able to see you whenever you want in all of March! You said you were planning on doing Italy through then, aren’t you?”  
  
Alit nods, understanding finally dawning upon him; where he was sure that he wouldn’t go the entire year without seeing at least one of them – he’d already had plans to meet up with Durbe in the Netherlands in August – to know there was a whole month he could dedicate to Yuma, to have him pass over something that, while not so important to him, was completely necessary for what was important to him, just for him…  
  
His lips greet his again, an adoring peck that he wants nothing more than to move to more only to falter at the bang of movement from the next room, the only notification that others in the house had begun to rise. The sound alerts Yuma to attention, moment immediately lost as he yanks himself from Alit, pulling himself to his feet as excitement completely crosses him and his mind whirrs into action.  
  
“Get the present and let’s go, Alit!” Yuma calls, pulling the male to his feet only to remember that yeah, he did actually just yank him out of bed. Hiding his smirk, he taps his nose again, scrunching his cheeks in a cheeky innocence that Alit can’t help but forgive as he backs out of his space and heads to the door. “Ah, well maybe get dressed first. Kotori will yell if she sees you like this. I’m going to see if anyone wants a duel. Don’t forget your present!~”  
  
Yuma darts off without another word, excitement evident in every aspect of his energy as he drags everyone in the house awake; a part of Alit can’t help but admit that he generally prefers sleepy, always running late Yuma over his overexcited – and Alit can’t help but wonder if overtired, for there’s no way Yuma would be up this early unless he didn’t sleep prior – but with such little time left with him before such a long break, he can put up, even enjoy Yuma’s calamity, and commit every piece of it to his memory so it can never escape again.  
  
For if there was one thing the barian bond would remind him of, it was that without those you wanted to protect, nothing could ever last.  
  
\--  
  
[It sticks with him for the rest of the day much to the rest of the barian’s surprise; he makes no effort to resist Rio’s celebratory peck on the cheek and even enjoys it, pulling her into a hug that has her eyes bulging in confusion before softening and closing in content. He even hugs Durbe, who presents his gift with a comfortable smile and a hope that the present will be a benefit on his travels.]  
  
[And of course, Yuma _loves_ his gift, only to be chastised immediately by Ryouga as he wastes no time in trying out his new abseiling kit on the side of the Kamishiro mansion.] 


End file.
